Unexpected Hope (Book 2 in the Red Valley series)

Chapter 29

"I don't know what we'd do without you Grace." He said as he gently sat his wife up and slid in behind her, letting her lean back against his chest.

"You can repay me in about six months." She said with a grin. Before anything else could be said Doc Baker walked into the bedroom with his trusty black medical bag and took over.

It seemed like it took forever to Levi, but according to Doc Baker, Hope was a natural when it came to delivering babies and did so in record time. Neither he nor Hope could keep the smiles from their faces as they looked down at their son, Mason, and daughter Emma. Both of them had downy soft black hair and slate blue eyes.

"Well they came a little earlier than I would have liked, but they both seem to be doing really well." Doc Baker said as he reached down, rubbing his finger down Emma's soft cheek. "They are simply adorable." He said smiling, then in seriousness, looked back up at the parents. "I know you don't feel like it right now Hope, but Levi, you don't need to touch her for at least four weeks." Levi nodded and even though Doc Baker had seen her in all her glory not half an hour ago, her face bloomed with color.

"I'll be back in a couple of days to check on the three of you."

A week later, Levi decided to tell his wife about the information he'd learned from Nigel Fenter. He walked into their room as Hope nursed Mason. Ellie sat beside Emma on the bed talking to her telling her all the things they were going to do when the baby was old enough. "Ellie sweetie, why don't you go down to the kitchen and help Claire."

She didn't want to, that was obvious, but she did. "Yes, sir."

Levi leaned down to gently press his lips to his wife's, then picked up his daughter, cuddling her in his arms. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before he took a deep breath. "Do you remember the man you saw in the diner that day?"

"I think so, why?"

"Hope, that man was Philip Huntington." Her brows drew together and he could tell she was thinking back to that day, trying to put a name with the face. When she didn't say anything he continued. "He was the man you were supposed to marry, the one you ran away from."

Her eyes widened with shock, then fear. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, right now we are going to enjoy our new babies." He paused for a minute then continued. "I hired a Pinkerton detective to go to Savannah and do a little discrete digging."

"Why would you do that?" Hope asked as she handed Mason to his father then took Emma and began to feed her.

"I was a little worried as well as curious after that day in the diner. And well, what I found out was disturbing." His eyes softened as he watched his wife, then reached out a free hand and gently cupped her face. God he loved this woman! "I don't know how to tell you this gently, so I'm just going to say it."

"Your father was murdered, and Philip is suspected of doing it, as well as several other murders. Women, mostly um – er – um, ladies of the evening were found as well. They were all strangled, and they all had black hair." God, he could not believe that he was talking to his wife about whores. Her eyes widened again, but she said nothing. "After he left Savannah on the train, they stopped finding women. Now they have stated to turn up along the rail line."

"I'm sorry about your father Hope. I'm so sorry to have to tell you all of this. This," he said waiving his free hand at their babies, "is supposed to be a time for celebration."

"This is a time for celebration. And, maybe this makes me a bad person, but I don't feel anything for my father. Nothing. You told me what I ran away from, and I've seen the scars on my back. I'm not glad of the things I must have gone through, but I'm thankful that they brought me to you. I wouldn't change anything, ever."

Hope lay in bed that night beside her husband, listening to the distant thunder roll as the storm brewing outside moved ever closer to the Triple L. She loved storms, always had. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room as fat drops of rain began to splatter against the window. Slowly her eyes began to close but as the lightning flashed outside, images of a heavyset man with white hair flashed through her mind.

This wasn't the first time it had happened, but these images were clearer and more detailed than previous ones. She kept her eyes closed, willing more images to come. Thunder boomed outside, rattling the windowpanes as rain beat against the side of the house as memories began to trickle slowly back to her. She remembered riding in a carriage, sitting across from the man in the diner. Philip Huntington. Maybe memories was the wrong word, she remembered the fear she felt in the presence of her father and Philip.

"What is it, love?" Levi asked as he rolled over gently kissing her ear.

"I remember, kind of."

ibri;mso-farVFF